Pepper
by IfYouLovedMe
Summary: Like the flock, Pepper came from the school. Or, she thinks. She has no memory of anything that has ever happened, except that one day, she wakes up in the middle of the woods to the realization that she has a TAIL. Where did she come from? What was she meant for? Can the flock help her recover her memories? And maybe, can she find someone to love her?
1. Prologue

**Thorn: S'up, s'up, s'up, people?! Are you excited? Cuz I sure am! My first Maximum Ride fanfic! Eek! And okay, yes. I will end up writing a lot of fics with OCs. But they won't all be, I promise! And again, yes. I loveloveLOVE Iggy and Gazzy. It's no coincidence, therefore, that my first MaxRide fic should have one of them be the center of it! Guess who? Ah, who else but everyone's favorite strawberry-blonde pyro? Dun-da-nuh-nah! Okay, also. I will be sure to post a picture of my favorite OCs, but Leslie Jenkins (one of my other fanfics, _The Pianist_) wasn't a serious-fic girl, it was just two chapters, so I won't post one of her. Sorry about that. Anyway… I didn't come up with this on my own. Not only is this my first MaxRide fic, but the firs one Pandora is helping me write! Welcome! **

**Pandora: Well, technically it's my storyline. But both of us have a big part. The new main character is my genius idea, but most of the actual typing was done by Thorn. You're really gonna love this!**

**_We don't own MaxRide, only our OC Pepper. Enjoy!_**

The onscreen beacon glowed bright red as it moved from left right. Several pairs of eyes followed its path closely, the hands of the owners constantly scribbling notes on its position, velocity, and direction of travel. But this place wasn't a science fiction movie. These people had a job to do, and would stop at nothing to get it done. They were supplied with every piece of technology they needed to track their targets.

Behind them in the darkness, the buzzing of an automatic door signaled the entrance of their supervisor. Standing, they fixed their tired, work-worn eyes on the shadowy figure just inside the doorway.

"Status." Though the words were very offhand, the power and authority in his deep voice made the scientists tremble and shudder away, a few backing up against the desks.

The head of the departments stepped forward, appearing confident, though the shaking of his hands gave him away. "They are on course. We assume they will stop for a few days in Augusta." As if to support his words, the blip on the screen slowed, moving in the direction of the south Nevada city.

"Very good. Everything is as planned, then."

"Sir, the girl—" Immediately, the air in the room changed, as if a cold mist spread over the ground, wrapping itself around them, constricting them, chilling hem to the bone.

"The girl is none of your concern, Batchelder. She is not your daughter. And she will live a short while longer. She will not be the first to die—we will pick her flock apart first, let her anger and pain grow. She will be blinded by them and grow careless. She will come to us, and she will die, but not yet."

With that, the man turned and left, heading through the dimly lit halls to a large open room. It too was dark, but movement was detectable from the scuffling of skin on floor.

"My dear, it seems your hour has come."

And, from the darkness, a set of amber eyes glowed, the lips of the owner turned up in a devilish smile, flashing rows of white teeth.

**Thorn: Alright, people! I would say R&R, but at least read the actual first chapter first. Please? Give it a real fighting chance to get started!**


	2. Night Owl

**Thorn: Short prologue, I know. That's the idea, to get you to want to read more. Here, on to the chapter!**

_If Max knew about this, she'd kill us._ The thought brought a smile to Gazzy's face. Yesterday, Max had rented a huge motel room in southern Nevada so the flock to chill for a few days. Iggy had 'overheard' from next door that a Halloween party was happening the next night on the other side of town. According to him, the girl had said that well over a thousand people would be there. There was no way either of them would ever miss a party like that for all the bombs in the world.

All of the others were preoccupied for some reason or other. Max and Fang were… just being Max and Fang. Gazzy could take a wild guess at what their idea of relaxing was—and the thought of the people he considered his two oldest siblings… His face scrunched up to think about it. While they were doing whatever it was they were doing, they'd had Nudge babysit Angel. Of course, this meant seriously girly stuff going down. Magazines, model shows, shirtless men. It was enough to make any straight male gag. This left him and Iggy… to be teenage boys. Or, a fifteen year-old and a twenty-one year-old.

They'd both told Nudge they were going to bed early. The mocha-skinned girl had been skeptical at first, but had quickly shrugged it off, going back to reading her fashion magazines to Angel and discussing 'Justin and Selena's miserably failing romance.' Gazzy had just waited until most everyone in the house stopped moving, and had hopefully gone to bed, before grabbing his costume from under the bed in his backpack and going to Iggy's room, when they'd snuck out the door on mice fee, raying Max's super hearing couldn't detect them.

And man, was Gazzy ever glad they did. Their source didn't disappoint; the warehouse was full to capacity with freaky, awesome costumes. Those closest to the door were a girl dressed in black tights and a red and purple corset with bat wings, a black mask covering her face, and a guy in a suit, wearing dark sunglasses and a wire from his war to the collar of his shirt. It was the closest thing to Men In Black Gazzy had seen in the real world, and he had to grin as they passed.

Black and orange and purple streamers were draped along the beams of the ceiling; dark multi-colored lights swept from wall to wall, and rock music blared to the point of his eardrums shaking. Long tables lined the edges, covered with chips and crackers and chocolate and candy and funny shaped fruits Gazzy didn't know the names of. It may have been the best thing to ever have existed on earth. (Iggy eagerly drank in the descriptions Gazzy gave him as they floated through the crowds.)

Their own costumes were pretty good, if the blonde did say so himself. His own was centered around an electrical outlet on his stomach, which threw sharp blues, yellows, and purples over his body on the fabric. He'd spiked his hair and died the tips blue, and, with his already blue eyes, he looked very much like a rather large lightning bolt. His companion wore a mask similar to those worn by doctors during the time of the plague in Europe and very dark clothing. His grey wings were slightly extended behind him, but were accented with other colors of fake feathers and scarce glitter so they looked more man-made. Even still, the sight was striking, and those around the two continuously shot glances at the pair, whispering among themselves.

All of a sudden, the music volume tripled. If his eardrums weren't shaking before, they were now. The effect on the people was immediate; a roar rose up as everyone began to dance. The girl with the wings from before and one of her friends—dressed as a bobcat—approached them.

"Hey boys," Cat-girl said, smiling. "Wanna dance?"

Gazzy nodded eagerly, grinning like a fool.

"No thanks," Iggy muttered.

"Don't mind him. He's just got two left feet." Gazzy laughed. The strawberry muttered something about 'have to see to have two left feet,' and leaned sideways on the snack table.

Out of nowhere, a set of arms coiled around Iggy's neck, and he froze. Apparently, so did their owner, briefly, before they pulled away. A girl stepped back behind him, looking very confused. Gazzy caught a set of ears on the top of her head—a headband, he could see the silver thread—and a striped tail swishing behind her. On her face was a raccoon mask. Behind it was a pair of amber eyes.

"Um… Sorry… I thought you were… Someone else…" And with that, she took off, disappearing into the masses.

"Well, that was weird," the winged-girl said.

"Yeah…" Gazzy agreed. "What'd you think that was about?" he asked Iggy. After moments passed without a response, he repeated the question. Again, nothing. "Iggy?"

This time, answer came as a low hiss through clenched teeth. "I just _saw you!_"

I awoke to sunlight practically burning through my eyelids. With a groan, I threw my arm across my face. The motion caused a twig to snap under my shoulder, shocking me into standing and stumbling so my bare feet slid in the mud of the riverbank. I was disoriented, my vision swirling, my head spinning, and my thoughts fuzzy. _Where am I? What am I doing here?_ I squinted, shaking my head from side to side in a vain attempt to clear it. As hard as I tried to remember, I couldn't.

Nothing. That was what was inside my head. I didn't know my name, where I was, or what I was doing here. I began to panic, stumbling a ten foot radius from the river. Then, I became angry. What had I done to deserve this? This feeling of nothingness… It was like a cold, hollow spot in my chest. I looked down at myself. A knee-length, strapless black dress met my confused gaze. Wherever I'd been, it must have been a fancy place. No normal person wore this kind of thing out to go hiking. That I was sure of. Reaching up to push a strand of hair from ticking my cheek, my fingers brushed a piece of plastic and, further back in my hair, a headband. I yanked them both from their places and stared down at them. The mask was the face of a raccoon, and pair of ears were perched atop the black-lined-with-silver band.

Unknown anger boiled in my gut. Nothing was making one damn bit of sense! Something brushed the back of my leg, and I almost jumped out of my skin. But when I spun, nothing was there. I looked down at the ground where I'd stood, and, from the corner of my eye, I caught the swishing of fur behind me.

_A tail? _My reflection on the surface of the river said I wasn't crazy. I brushed my hair back from the side of my face and opened my mouth some. _Pointed ears… My canines are really sharp, too. Good lord, what _am_ I?_ The amber eyes that stared back at me from the water were filled with questions that begged to be answered. Questions that had no answer.

**Thorn: *evil laugh* Thus you must wait for the next chapter! R&R people!**


	3. Lost and Found at the Lotus Casino

**Thorn: Alright, people! Here's chapter two! I know the first one and the prologue weren't all that great, but I promise, this one will be better! I just had a hard time getting this abstract idea Pandora had started… PRRRRROOOOMIIIISSSE. Okay, so the first part of this chapter doesn't have anything to do with the chapter itself, but it didn't really have a place at the end of the last chapter, either. So that's the beginning of this one. Also: this story will be divided into two parts. It will be roughly thirteen or fourteen chapters, and I will write the first half, plus a chapter. Pandora will write the rest—go easy on her! This will be her first fanfic, and I'm so excited for her! Haha! **

**Pandora: The inspiration from this chapter came from the Percy Jackson and the Olympians movie! Take a look at the title, kiddos. No demigods or anything involved, but you'll get the idea!**

There was no movement anywhere as Iggy and Gazzy snuck down the hall back to their motel room, but before Gazzy could even touch the door handle, Max had it open. The rest of the group was gathered behind her.

"I can't _believe_—wait; I _can_ believe you two twits would do something like this! Don't you know how dangerous that was? You put us all at risk for being found!"

"Max, I'm sorry we snuck out, but we might actually have a bigger problem than that!" the blonde exclaimed.

Immediately, the leader froze. "Erasers?"

"No! Of course not! Actually..."

"Then what?" She pulled the two inside and closed the door.

"I… don't really know what happened," Gazzy answered, sounding very confused himself.

Iggy was silent. He'd _seen_… For the first time since the scientists had made him blind, he'd really seen. Even if it was only Gazzy, that in itself had been enough to shock him and knock the breath from his chest. The light had almost hurt his eyes, but at the same time… He didn't think his heart had hurt so badly right after he'd originally lost his vision. Because having it for that brief moment… It made his heart split in two with missing the feeling. He wanted to see again so badly it bordered on crazy.

"_Oh my God, Iggy!_" Angel's voice pulled him from his trance, and his head snapped up. He could hear her breaths—quick and muffled, probably from her hands being cupped over her mouth.

"What's going on?" Nudge asked frantically.

"_Iggy saw when they went to the party!_"

The room was so deadly silent that Iggy wondered if they were all even breathing.

Finally, Max murmured, "How? How is that even possible?"

"We were just hanging out… These girls walked up and started talking to us, right? And he was leaning against the table, and all of a sudden, this other girl just came up and threw her arms around his neck. He froze, and after a minute, she backed up and was like, 'Uh, sorry. I thought you were someone else.' Then she left. It was so bizarre."

"What did she look like? You saw her?" Iggy's voice was sharp as he spoke.

"Ah—she was… Kind of short…" Gazzy's voice was slow and thoughtful. A small crease formed between his eyebrows as he tried to pull the vague memory to the front of his mind. "With dark hair… I don't remember much else, except that she was dressed up like a human-sized raccoon."

"That's not a lot to work off of… If we're going to find her, we'll need more that that…" Max said.

Iggy's eyes widened as he turned his head in her direction. "Wh-what do you mean?"

"You want to find her, don't you? I know you'll never forgive yourself if you don't at least try to find her."

"What good will it do? She didn't even know who I was, remember? And she said she thought I was someone else. Why would she care about what I want?"

"You never know, Hun," she answered sympathetically.

The strawberry blonde gritted his teeth. _I don't need your sympathy. Stop treating me like a little kid!_

A month passed without event. Everyone was discouraged—they hadn't seen hide or hair of the mysterious girl from the Halloween party—and even Max was about ready to give up. How were they supposed to find someone they didn't know anything about? It would have been easier to find a piece of straw in a haystack. Iggy had grown distant, and when Max or Gazzy repeatedly asked Angel what was wrong, she always answered, "He's thinking about seeing."

In an attempt to rile their spirits, the Almighty Leader had decided that Las Vegas would be a good pit stop for all of them.

"_I want a pearl!_" Nudge squealed. Go figure, the casino they'd stepped into had to be one that Nudge recognized—none other than the all-famous Lotus Casino. Apparently, it had been in one of the movies she'd recently seen (though Max didn't ask how the motor mouth had managed that), and now she was obsessing over.

"Cool it, Nudge. Let's just have some fun while we're here," Max replied.

"What'd you wanna do first, Ig?" Gazzy asked excitedly.

"Huh? O-oh, I don't know…" The response was very offhand, and it led to the rest of the flock staring at the strawberry worriedly.

"Let's just explore first," the younger blonde finally said, taking his friend by the wrist. He had been very careful not to say _look around_.

"Three hours—back at the door, okay?" Everyone but Iggy nodded.

The casino was huge, at least seven times as big as the warehouse they'd been to, and a billion times more extravagant. Slot machines ran to craps tables and billiards… There were so many rooms that before he knew it, Gazzy had gotten them lost in the crowds.

"Where are we now?" Iggy asked, raising voice over the noise as best he could.

"Er, we're—"

"Lost, right?"

Gazzy sighed. "Yeah." He paused for a moment. "Wait, I hear water. Are there pools out back, you think?"

"Dunno. Probably."

_Girls in bikinis,_ the blonde thought. "Let's go."

Why was I here, in an all-too-crowded casino in Las Vegas, wandering around like a fool when I didn't even know my own name? I hadn't the slightest idea. The noise that hit my ears was deafening, and almost immediately pain pricked between my eyes, the first threat of a migraine. But something was drawing me here, to the center of the casino. For me, the unknown was not scary because, as of now, I still had no memory of anything. If I feared the unknown, I would fear everything. Swallowing, I glanced around, not knowing what to search for.

Suddenly, a set of arms enveloped my waist, and I stiffened.

"_C_?" a voice murmured in my ear, sending shudders down my spine. _That voice…_ "You're okay…"

"Wh-what—" What happened inside my head next was something I couldn't explain. My vision was blocked by a wall of white, and I felt like I was falling off a cliff and rising in the sky, being pelted with stones and embraced by feathers, all at the same time. The white became a swirl of colors and images as knowledge poured into every corner of my mind.

_I was peering through the bars of a cage as I watched two men carry my only friend back to his. His bulky form was limp, and they tossed him in like he was worth nothing more than the dirt they walked on. I snarled viciously at the dog-men, tears pricking at my eyes. But I would not cry. I couldn't show them fear. Fear was weakness. _

_Crawling to the side of my crate next to his, I reached through the bars as far as I could. "A," I whispered. "A, please wake up…"_

_The form stirred, giving a quiet groan. _

"_You're gonna be okay… We're gonna get out of here, I promise! Remember, you promised too!"_

_The only response was a faint murmur of agreement, and a soft sigh as my fingers brushed his hair. _

_There was only one thing I knew in this life, no, this imprisonment—that one day, we _would_ escape, and that I was going to kill every single last one of those evil creatures that ever hurt us, every last man that ever stuck us with needles, shocked us when we didn't run fast enough, beat us when we tried to fight back. Oh, yes, they would pay._

_It was because of them I had this damn tail, this damn horrible life. Because of them that no one cared about me, or about A, or about any of those other 'recombinants' in the cages around us. But that didn't mean we were all in this together. None of the others ever spoke to us or paid us any mind. Not a single one. _

_But there was one girl—a girl with wings. She seemed to be the favorite of the evil man I assumed was in charge of all of this. Even though she lived behind these bars like us, I never once saw them stick her with a needle. Not once. I hated her with every fiber of my soul. If she was like us, why did she not suffer the way we did? _

_It was then I decided one day, she would pay too._

All at once, the memory changed.

_I was standing on a small rock mound, watching the side of a building burn out. Rage but also a dark satisfaction boiled in my gut at the sight, knowing that A and I had done that. Inclining my chin, I ignored the cold wind that clew against my bare legs and under the hospital gown I wore. _

"_C, let's go. We don't need to be here anymore." _

_I turned my head to him and nodded. Briefly, he reached up and ran a bit of my hair through his fingers before pushing it behind my ear. Some feeling pricked in my chest as I looked at him. _

"_We can go." I felt like screaming at the top of my lungs, I was so happy. "You think we can ever find our parents?"_

"_I don't know," he answered. "But whatever's going to happen, we've got each other, right?"_

I gasped in a breath, and it burned my lungs like I'd swallowed fire. I could _remember_ these things. They were _real memories_. The realization was almost painful.

I spun, burying my face in his shoulder, all but ready to cry. I needed him, and when I could remember how I'd lost him to begin with…

_Smoke. I coughed breathlessly, my eyes watering and burning. "A!" I called hoarsely. "A, where are you?" I shoved a plywood board aside, trying to get through the debris to the door of the hotel. _

_My mind raced; I was starting to panic. Then, I saw him. In the next room over, he was struggling towards a window. "Get out! Go! Are you crazy! The place is going to—_

_And that was when the ceiling caved in. _

_I didn't remember getting out of that hotel. All I could remember was the pain of that loss. I'd never cried before that day, but I was positive that Lake Michigan wouldn't have been large enough to hold all my tears. _

_After that, I vowed never to let my feelings exist again. I couldn't stand to have my heart shattered again. _

"I thought you were dead," I whispered, unable to make my voice louder than that.

"I managed to make it out… I tried to find you but I couldn't. But I knew you'd made it. That's what kept me going."

I breathed in his scent, trying to calm myself, slowly pushing myself back to look at him. He was short like I remembered, with a wide-ish mouth and short, kind of spiky hair. The bright green eyes were the most prominent feature of his face. My eyes fell to his hand where it was still rested on my shoulder. Very thin, almost transparent layers of skin stretched between his fingers, one of the very few signs that he had anything other than human DNA in his body.

As I watched, he moved his hand to hold my cheek. My eyes drifted closed and I laid my fingers over him. The feeling of someone I knew being this close to me was almost unreal, like a dream…

A gasp behind me made me stiffen. "_You!_ Max, it's _her!_"

I spun, ready for a fight, but all I got was a young blonde girl staring at me. _Who is she?_

"You're the girl who hugged Iggy!"

The name sparked a faint memory, but as I tried to focus on it, it faded. My face screwed up in frustration, but I answered, "I have no idea what you're talking—" I inhaled sharply as my eyes fell on the older girl she'd been talking to. I recognized the brown haired female as the bird-girl from the School.

My breath hissed out, and I was about to scream at her—before I caught a devious, toothy grin from the corner of my eye. The blonde's head whipped that direction. "Max! Erasers!"

_A _grabbed my hand and took off away from that area.

"Where are we going?" I yelled.

"We've gotta get out of here! It's those wolf things!"

And then I saw the silver jeep.

**Thorn: mu-ah-hahaha! I cut it off before you find out what happens! I enjoyed this chapter quite a bit, I hope you did too! Review, please! Comments on writing improvements also appreciated!**


	4. Author's Note from Thorn

Thorn: Hello, dear readers. I would like to inform you of a slight change in writing plans. As of now, Pepper is under the sole responsibility of Pandora. I can not note when she will post, but I promise she will. Thank you for your loyalty and patience with us! Laters~


	5. Pit Stop

The guy who had hugged me, who I now realize to be an old friend, jumps into the driver's seat of the jeep, and I climb in beside him. This is no ordinary Jeep. It's a brand spanking new, metallic silver, 4X4, four door Jeep. Yeah, a very nice Jeep. And we're stealing it.

"Keys, keys. Where are the keys?" He says, fumbling through the glove compartment.

All of a sudden the Jeep starts by itself. We turn around to see a strange, brown-haired girl with wings sitting in the back seat.

"Well go on then. You don't want to be here when the erasers get here do you?"

He steps on the gas and off we go. Her friends-winged friends following close behind, along with those guys from the Halloween party.

We end up on the outskirts of Las Vegas (in the middle of a desert I might add.)

He pulls into a _very_ run down garage at a long forgotten gas station.

I now know the name of this old friend. It's Caleb. He helped me escape from that horrible place that I can't seem to remember. He's part frog. Like I'm part raccoon. And I'm guessing like those other guys are part bird, because they have freaking _wings_.

"What is this place?" I ask.

"This is where I live." He answers with a huge smile on his face.

"You live in this dump?" the brown haired one asks.

He goes over to a suspicious looking tool box. It looks way too new to have been here originally. And he opens a section and pulls up on a tool. It's a lever of some sort.

Below us is a massive underground bunker, tricked out to the max.

"Not that dump. This dump."

The next few minutes consisted of oohs and ahhs from all of us. It was just like a normal one level house, expect for the fact that it was below a rundown gas station. He has food which I'm thankful for and the necessary toiletries. That's a good sign. I start to wonder how he got all this stuff. Then I think he probably stole it all, like I would have done.

"Oh gosh. Are you ok? Are you hurt? Let me look." He says as he looks at every scrape and bump I have on me.

"Caleb, please. Stop! I'm fine, really. I've had worse." I say shyly as I remember that we're not alone. "Who are you exactly?" I ask to the strangers with wings.

"Well I'm Max." the older girl says. "And this is Fang." Pointing to the dark looking guy beside her.

"And I'm Nudge!" the brown haired girl says. "And that's Angel, Gazzy, and Iggy."

Iggy, I know him from somewhere…

"That was awesome!" Nudge yells, interrupting my train of thought.

"Yeah, but my bike. I loved that bike." I really did love that bike. But we were in such a hurry to leave we left it at the casino...

"That's alright. You can have one of mine." He smiles, and it's dazzling.

He has _rows_ upon _rows_ of bikes. All different makes and models even some rare ones. I can't help but stare at them and all their glory. I have never seen so many bikes in one place before. All in perfect condition.

"I have a lot of spare time. So I collect bikes and fix them up."

Gazzy I think, is going nuts, asking every question possible.

"This is amazing Caleb. Can I take one for a spin?" I ask, admiring a Harley in the front row.

"Can I come?"

Its two voices. One I know is Caleb, the other is the strawberry blonde. Iggy I think. Caleb looks quite eager. Iggy on the other hand looks like he's in pain.

"Um, I think I'll just wait until morning. Caleb? Where can I sleep?"

"This way. Some of you will have to bunk up. I only have 4 extra rooms."

He leads me back a hallway where there are five rooms, one of them his, and two bathrooms. Again I wonder how he got all this stuff. He walks me to the second door on the right. The first being the first bathroom. And the second bathroom across from it. There are two bedrooms on the right and three on the left.

"If you need anything I'm in the last room on the left."

"Thanks Caleb. For everything." I say as I am closing the door to my temporary room.

"That's what friends are for." He says on the other side of the door.

* * *

Back and forth. Back and forth. All I can do is pace.

My room is a decent size. A bed in the middle a night stand on each side. A small closet on the left and a dresser on the right. Not that I need them.

I can't sleep. I can't even sit still for two minutes. What the hell happened at that Halloween party? I was supposed to do something. But all I remember is that guy. And now he's here.

A sharp knocking interrupts my thoughts.

"Who could that be?" I walk over to my door. I don't bother to turn on the light. I can see just fine in the dark.

It's that Iggy kid. What does he want?

"H-Hey..." he mumbles.

"Ugh." I avoid contact with him. This means I have to squeeze out of my door to get past him. I don't want to talk to him so I make my way over to the bikes. An easy feat for me, but apparently not for him. I guess he can't see in the dark like me. Because I hear him running into everything I avoid.

"Why don't you just turn on a light already?" I say flipping the switch. And I see him run into yet another column that holds up the ceiling.

"It wouldn't help." He says, hands out in front of him as to not run into anything else. Just as he slams his knee into a chair. He snarls a string of curses as he falls to the floor in pain.

"Oh! You're blind. Why didn't you say something before?" I say, not knowing how else to answer, but feeling dumb as the words slide off my tongue.

"I thought the blank stare was obvious." He says flatly, waving a hand in front of his face.

"Uh no, it's not." It's true. Up until now, I hadn't noticed.

"A little help then?"

"Uh…"

"Well come on. Are you going to help me or not?"

"Yeah. Don't move." I say after a moment of hesitation.

I bend down to help him up and as soon as our hands touch, the strangest thing happens. I remember meeting him at that Halloween party.

"Whoa! I can see! I knew it! Whenever I touch you I can see again!" he murmurs in awe.

"Again? You mean you could see?" Once again, my big mouth. I can't just go assuming he was always blind, if he had the same Linda's of experiences I did... Wait, what?

"Yeah, before… I don't like to talk about it."

I knew what that felt like so I didn't pester him about it.

We walk over to the Harley I was admiring earlier.

I climb onto it. Just to sit down. And to my surprise he climbs on behind me. The keys are in the ignition and he turns it over. The sound sends goose bumps over my arms and legs. As I'm giving the controls and dials a good once over he revs the engine and that does it for me. I want to ride, feel the wind in my hair. I kick up the kickstand and off we go. Into the night.


	6. Warning

As we pull back in to the garage I see Caleb. And he does NOT look happy; in fact, he looks furious. I park the bike in her original spot, careful not to scratch the paint.

_Oh shit. This isn't going to be pretty. Why did I take the bike? What was I thinking? I knew this would happen._

I prepare myself for the worst. It could be anything. Who knows what Caleb can do? I don't know how strong he is. All I know is that he's part frog. And Iggy's blind and part bird.

"What the hell?! I thought you were going to take me! I can fix the bikes but I can't drive them. I have no balance." He shouts as he storms toward us. "I really wanted to go. I thought we were friends, Pepper..." he whines.

I hate it when a guy whines. It makes them look weak. I'm not old fashioned but men should be strong.

Just as I step in front of Iggy to guard him from Caleb's 'wrath', the others come down and interrupt or little conversation. All of them in extra large shirts. Enough to cover everything.

"What's wrong?" Angel asks as she is rubbing the sleep out of her eye. She has something in her arms, but I'm too busy to notice what it is.

"I never said who I was going to take." I say to Caleb. "He was just in the right place at the right time. I can't help that. It's not my fault." I can see his face getting redder and redder. "And I remembered more." I say loud enough so they all can hear. And so Caleb would shut up.

The room goes quiet. All sleepy eyes are on me. "I remembered blue eyes."

"Ok. What's so special about blue eyes?" Gazzy yawns.

"It's who they belong to that's special." I say matter of factly.

"And who would that be?" Iggy asks from beside me.

"My clone, Piper."

Everyone starts talking at once. Somehow I knew they wouldn't like my answer. I don't even like my answer. It's a horrible answer. I should have lied.

"What do you think that means?"

"They have to be looking for her."

"They must have wiped her memory."

"She was meant for something."

"She can't be trusted."

There are too many people talking at once. It almost gets to be too much noise for me to take. I'm about to lose it when…

"Pepper, do you remember anything about the School? Anything at all?" Max asks impatiently.

"Nothing, except escaping. I do remember I was supposed to do something, and if I didn't, she was going to kill me. But I don't know what it was that I was supposed to do." I think I'm having a panic attack. I need one of those paper bags like in the movies. I'm going to pass out.

"Did it have anything to do with us?" She's getting frustrated. So am I.

"I just don't know." I have to calm down. Take deep breaths Pepper. Calm down. Calm. Down. There, see Pepper. All good.

"I can't read her mind." Angel says looking suspicious, and pissed.

_Whoa she can read minds?_

"Well I'm going back to bed." Gazzy says as he creeps back down the hall. "You coming man?" He says to Iggy.

I guess he doesn't like to be woken up. I wouldn't either.

"Yeah, I'll be there in a few," he says as the rest of them, including a sulking Caleb, go back to their rooms.

"Could you walk me to my room?" Iggy asks me. He seems a little desperate. I actually feel a little sorry for him. Him not being able to see and all. It must be tough. I would rather die than be blind.

"I guess I have to" I say." Since you wouldn't be able to see otherwise." I start leading him down the hallway.

"Well it's not my fault, you know."

"I kind of figured it wasn't. Let me guess, the 'School'." This topic is a rough spot for him. I'm surprised he's talking about it.

"You got it."

He really is depressed about it. That school must have been horrible.

"Well, here we are." I say, paused in front of his and Gazzy's door.

"I see that. At least until you let go."

I didn't even realize I was still holding onto his hand. I had forgotten about him being able to see when we touched. I quickly let go.

"Damn. There it goes. Well thanks anyway. Gasman! You still up?"

_Gasman? I don't want to know. I just wave it off. I'm way too tired to think about it._

I get back to my room and get changed into a huge shirt that must have been sold in the gas station above. And just as I'm finally falling asleep I get a very soft but rushed knock on my door.

What now. I murmur under my breath. I'm trying to sleep.

I open my door only to find Angel standing in front of me.

"Hi" she says with a sickly sweet smile.

"Uh, hi." Well this is weird.

"Can I come in?"

"Yeah, sure. I guess." I'm not comfortable around her. She sets my teeth on edge.

"Thanks."

There's that smile again. I don't like that smile.

"Not to seem rude but I was trying to sleep. What do you want?" I'm really not liking this situation. I'm alone with this strange girl. She's even weirder than Nudge.

"To warn you." She says cheerfully. Ok then. This is odd.

"About…?" I ask warily.

"My flock." Her voice is deeper now. Her face has gone dark and the air around her is cold. "I don't really care for you right now, but Iggy seems to have a soft spot for you. Max is determined to destroy that damned school and she thinks you will help her do it. I also can't read your mind and I don't know if I like that or not. So don't do anything stupid. Because if you hurt my family I will make you pay. I can make you regret the day you were made."

She storms out before I can get a chance to say anything. It's not like I have anything to say anyway. She left me standing there speechless. And what did she mean by made? I wasn't made. I was born. I have a belly button. She knows something I don't know. And I don't like it. I'm not too fond of her right now either. I'm asleep before my head hits the pillow.


End file.
